Tag Archives: East Asia

Foreign Policy, Government, Magazines, Politics, Previews, Reviews

Preview: Foreign Policy Magazine – Winter 2024

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Foreign Policy Magazine – December 28, 2023: The new issue features ‘The Year The World Votes’ – Elections have consequences. What will happen when nearly half of the global population heads to the polls?

The Promise and Peril of Geopolitics

The world’s most dismal science could make Eurasia safe for illiberalism and predation—or protect it from those forces.

By Hal Brands, a professor of global affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

An illustration shows a stylized globe with a crack through it. A hand with a wrench tightens the screw atop the globe.

Alexander Dugin is a bit of a madman. The Russian intellectual made headlines in the West in 2022, when his daughter was killed, apparently by Ukrainian operatives, in a Moscow car bombing likely meant for Dugin himself. Dugin would have been targeted because of his unapologetic, yearslong advocacy for a genocidal war of conquest in Ukraine. “Kill! Kill! Kill!” he screeched after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first invasion of that country in 2014, adding: “This is my opinion as a professor.” Even at his daughter’s funeral, Dugin stayed on message. Among her first words as an infant, he claimed, were “our empire.”

Historical, Travel, Videos, Views

Travel: A Tour Of Joruri-ji Temple In Kyoto, Japan

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Yurara Sarara (October 21, 2023) – Joruri-ji Temple, located in the “Kyoto Infused with Tea” region, is a temple of the Shingon Ritsu Buddhism (Nara sect) that holds 4 national treasures and 9 important cultural properties.

According to the records of the temple, the temple was opened in 1047 by Yoshiaki Shonin and enshrines the “Yakushinyourai,” the Buddha who can cure all illness. The name of the temple is said to come from “Joruri,” the realm where the Buddha lives.

The main hall of Joruri-ji is particularly long with nine Amida Buddhas enshrined inside. During the Heian period about 30 such nine-body Amida temples were built around Kyoto, but Joruri-ji is the only temple that still exists. Both the main hall and nine-body Amida Buddha are designated as national treasures.

*The Nine Amida Buddhas sitting statues are being repaired two at a time over a five-year period from July 2018.

Foreign Policy, Government, Magazines, Politics, Previews, Reviews

Preview: Foreign Policy Magazine – Fall 2023

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Foreign Policy Magazine – Fall 2023: The new issue features The G-7 Becomes a Power Player – Russia’s war and China’s rise are turning a talking shop into a fledgling alliance of democracies; Vivek Ramaswamy’s Foreign Policies Raise Eyebrows in Washington – The GOP’s rising star offers up a grab bag of ideas cribbed from Eminem to Richard Nixon and more…

The G-7 Becomes a Power Player

Foreign Policy – the Global Magazine of News and Ideas

Russia’s war and China’s rise are turning a talking shop into a fledgling alliance of democracies.

By G. John Ikenberry, a professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University.

Time and again over the last century, the United States and the other liberal democracies in Europe, East Asia, and elsewhere have found themselves on the same side in grand struggles over the terms of the world order. This political grouping has been given various names: the West, the free world, the trilateral world, the community of democracies. In one sense, it is a geopolitical formation, uniting North America, Europe, and Japan, among others. It is an artifact of the Cold War and U.S. hegemony, anchored in NATO and Washington’s East Asian alliances.

Vivek Ramaswamy’s Foreign Policies Raise Eyebrows in Washington

Vivek Ramaswamy's Foreign Policies Raise Eyebrows in Washington – DNyuz

The GOP’s rising star offers up a grab bag of ideas cribbed from Eminem to Richard Nixon.

By Jack Detsch

End American dependence on Taiwan’s semiconductor factories. Declare economic independence from China. Give India an AUKUS-like submarine deal. And stage a dramatic visit to Moscow to broker a deal to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

Culture, Gardens, Travel, Videos, Views

Japan Culture: “100 Wabi-Sabi Gardens” In Kyoto

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Yurara Sarara Films (July 16, 2023) – Wabi sabi can be defined as “beauty in imperfection” and can incorporate asymmetry, incompleteness, impermanence, and simplicity.

In addition to gardens, wabi sabi influences many other aspects of Japanese art and culture, such as the tea ceremony and pottery making, and it is also seen as a way of life.

A garden based around wabi sabi incorporates natural and manmade elements in a way that allows visitors to appreciate their humble and imperfect forms. This typically involves using not only plants but also stones and weathered manmade objects as design elements.

Travel, Uncategorized, Videos, Views

360° Travel: Lake Hibara In Fukushima, Japan (12K)

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AirPano VR (March 31, 2023) – Lake Hibara is a lake located in Yama District, Fukushima, Japan. It is a part of the Bandai-Asahi National Park and is the largest of the lakes in the Bandai-kōgen plateau.

A mesotrophic lake, Lake Hibara was formed as a result of the July 15, 1888 eruption of Mount Bandai. The resulting debris avalanche created a natural dam that then filled with water, submerging Hibara Village.The remains of Hibara Village still lie at the bottom of the lake.

Travel, Videos, Views

Winter Walks: Kinosaki Hot Springs, Hyogo, Japan

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Kinosaki Onsen (城崎温泉) is located in northern Hyogo Prefecture on the coast of the Sea of Japan. This pleasant town, built along a willow-lined river, is one of the top onsen destinations of the Kansai Region.

Hot springs were discovered in Kinosaki around the 8th century and since then the town has developed into a charmingly old-fashioned onsen town. In the evenings guests of the local ryokan stroll about town in yukata and geta (wooden clogs), visiting the numerous public baths and nostalgic game arcades.

Filmed and edited by: Ninja Walking

Travel, Videos, Views

Timelapse Travel Views: ‘Magnificent Japan’ (4K)

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“雄大 (YUDAI)” means magnificent in Japanese. The film is a Timelapse and Hyperlapse depiction of magnificent Japan.

Japan, island country lying off the east coast of Asia. It consists of a great string of islands in a northeast-southwest arc that stretches for approximately 1,500 miles (2,400 km) through the western North Pacific Ocean. Nearly the entire land area is taken up by the country’s four main islands; from north to south these are  Hokkaido  (Hokkaidō),  Honshu  (Honshū),  Shikoku, and Kyushu (Kyūshū). Honshu is the largest of the four, followed in size by Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku. In addition, there are numerous smaller islands, the major groups of which are the Ryukyu (Nansei) Islands (including the island of Okinawa) to the south and west of Kyushu and the Izu, Bonin (Ogasawara), and  Volcano  (Kazan) islands to the south and east of central Honshu. The national capital, Tokyo (Tōkyō), in east-central Honshu, is one of the world’s most populous cities.

Filmed and Edited by: Daisuke Shimizu

Animals, Nature, Television, Travel, Videos, Wildlife

Wildlife: A Pallas’s Cat In The Steppes Of Mongolia

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Dinnertime is a gamble for Pallas’s cats, and this one’s hangry. Relative to their body size, they have the shortest legs of any cat, which makes attacking prey in a timely fashion somewhat tricky…

The Pallas’s cat, also known as the manul, is a small wild cat with long and dense light grey fur. Its rounded ears are set low on the sides of the head. Its head-and-body length ranges from 46 to 65 cm with a 21 to 31 cm long bushy tail. 

Adventure, Tours, Travel, Videos, Views

Travel & Adventure: ’18 Days Exploring Mongolia’

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Mongolia, a nation bordered by China and Russia, is known for vast, rugged expanses and nomadic culture. Its capital, Ulaanbaatar, centers around Chinggis Khaan (Genghis Khan) Square, named for the notorious founder of the 13th- and 14th-century Mongol Empire.

This year, I decided to take one of the hardest but exciting decisions I’ve ever made, exploring Mongolia for 18 days. I didn’t know what to expect, all I had with me is prior months of exploring this country through Google Earth and then transforming this exploration into real life.

The spots I was interested in exploring were so remote and very hard to reach even with the car, considering there’re no roads. 90% of the travel agencies did not approve to take me to the spots, considering how remote they are, until one of them told me, I will hire for you a very experienced driver, and you will direct him where I’m interested to go, but this expedition has to be private since no one would be willing to do that with me. I accepted the offer.

What I experienced and witnessed you will see in this film. It was one of the hardest challenge I’ve ever made but never regret doing it, I became a better person after this spirtual exploration expedition.

Bashir Abu Shakra